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All-Around Guide to CRM Testing
Plan, Required Team, and Costs
In CRM testing services since 2008, ScienceSoft helps companies in 30+ industries ensure excellent quality of their CRM solutions.
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CRM Testing: the Essence
CRM testing is the process of validation that your customer relationship management system fully meets the requirements and doesn't disrupt your business processes.
- CRM testing usually includes functional, integration, performance, security, usability testing, and regression testing over the course of CRM evolution.
- Feasibility of test automation: beneficial for CRM testing projects that last more than 6 months.
- CRM testing team: QA manager, test engineers, a test automation architect, a test automation engineer, a UX researcher (optional).
Insufficient testing of a CRM system may lead to disruptions in CRM workflows and poses threats to CRM data consistency and security. At ScienceSoft, we help out customers ensure smooth functioning of their CRM solutions by providing high-quality and cost-effective CRM testing services.
CRM Testing Setup Plan
A specific CRM testing plan will depend on the chosen sourcing model (in-house, partial or complete outsourcing), the current SDLC stage of your CRM project, and the system’s requirements. Summing ScienceSoft’s 15-year experience in CRM testing, our QA engineers share the most common stages each project will go through.
1.
CRM testing process design
- An assigned QA manager validates that each CRM requirement is clear, measurable, and complete.
- Representatives of each CRM user group take part in designing the requirements specification to pave the way for efficient functional and usability testing.
- A QA manager defines the KPIs for CRM testing and outlines the collaboration schedule for the testing and development teams.
At ScienceSoft, we typically design CRM requirements in the form of user stories. It facilitates test cases design and, as a result, speeds up the whole testing process.
2.
CRM testing preparation
Preparation for the CRM testing process will differ based on the sourcing model you opt for: in-house CRM testing or outsourced CRM testing.
2.1. Getting ready for in-house CRM testing
Duration: up to 4 weeks
In case you plan to perform CRM testing in-house, your QA manager:
- Designs a CRM test strategy and plans the required project efforts.
- Gathers a CRM testing team.
- Considers hiring additional testing talents (e.g., to introduce CRM test automation or handle the specifics of the chosen CRM provider).
If test automation is required, ScienceSoft recommends assigning a test automation lead who will:
- Outline the test scenarios that can be automated.
- Design a test automation architecture.
- Choose and configure the relevant test automation tools and frameworks.
2.2. Vendor selection for outsourced CRM testing
Duration: up to 12 weeks
To choose a reliable CRM testing vendor, you should:
- Look for vendors with QA certifications (e.g., ISTQB), vendors offering services compliant with ISO and IEC standards.
- Look through the vendors’ portfolios for CRM testing projects with similar prerequisites.
- Check if the vendor has enough resources to meet your project scale.
- Prepare a detailed request for information (RFI) and distribute it among the shortlisted CRM testing vendors. Based on the vendors’ responses, further shortlist 3–5 providers best corresponding to your CRM testing needs.
- Request CRM testing cost estimates and proposals from the preselected vendors to make an informed decision on CRM testing ROI.
- Negotiate the SLA and CRM testing costs and sign a contract with the chosen vendor.
I usually recommend considering test automation if CRM development is planned to take 6+ months. For both custom and platform-based CRMs, we usually automate compatibility testing, data quality validation, and regression testing. Apart from that, we should remember that performance testing can’t be done manually and is always automated.
3.
CRM testing launch
To start the CRM testing process, an outsourced test team or an in-house one:
- Sets up and configures the test environment. For platform-based CRM solutions, a relevant test environment should be obtained from your CRM provider.
- Starts developing test cases and test scripts.
- Prepares CRM test data.
ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft Recommends: Testing Types to Apply for Your CRM Testing
Functional testing comprises the majority of the CRM testing scope. It checks whether all the required functions are present in the CRM solution and enable flawless workflows for each user role. With platform-based CRM solutions, it’s also important to validate that configurations and customizations don’t disrupt the app functioning.
CRM’s business value significantly relies on its capability of data sharing with other enterprise applications (e.g., ERP and financial systems, an email server, a data warehouse). CRM integration testing validates that your customer data is complete, remains intact during data transfer, the introduced changes are visualized in all the connected systems.
Performance testing checks CRM behavior under continuous and peak load, measures the effects of multiple users working with CRM simultaneously: loading speed, response time, the maximum number of users.
CRM testing includes vulnerability assessment, role-based access control validation, and compliance testing to ensure the security of sensitive customer data and compliance with applicable regulatory standards (GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA, GLBA, etc.).
Validates the intuitive and convenient arrangement of CRM’s UI elements, content layout, and the number of usage steps with regard to the need of all CRM user groups and established usability standards and metrics.
Sourcing Models for CRM Testing
Tools ScienceSoft Uses to Streamline CRM Testing
In our CRM testing projects, ScienceSoft's testing teams usually opt for the following testing tools.
CRM Testing Costs
Factors determining the CRM testing scope
- Complexity of CRM workflows (defines the number of test cases).
- CRM type (a custom solution requires much more testing time and effort compared with a platform-based CRM).
- Number of user roles (each role requires additional testing effort and time).
- Number of intended users (e.g., a CRM solution with more than 50 users requires performance testing).
- Number of third-party integrations (e.g., other enterprise software or analytical tools).
- Usability requirements.
- Specific security and compliance requirements (e.g., HIPAA, GLBA, SOX, GDPR).
- The number of customizations (for platform-based CRM systems).
Cost calculation factors specific for different sourcing models
One-time CRM testing outsourcing
- CRM testing time based on:
- Total number of test cases.
- Development and maintenance efforts per test case.
- CRM test team members’ rates (based on their experience and competence).
- The cost of test environment and employed tools.
Continuous CRM testing outsourcing
- CRM testing time based on:
- Total number of test cases.
- Development and maintenance efforts per test case.
- Percentage of test automation.
- Regression test coverage.
- CRM test team members’ rates (based on their experience and competence).
- The cost of test environment and employed tools.
In-house CRM testing
- Fully burdened daily rate per QA professional.
- Number of test engineers and test automation engineers (defined based on estimated CRM testing time)
- Additional training for your test engineers, if required.
- The cost of test environment and employed tools.
As an example, let’s take an iterative development project of a large enterprise-scale custom CRM solution (from 500 intended users) with the following characteristics:
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The rough CRM testing costs estimate for this testing project, including test team members’ rates, testing tools’ licenses and test environment costs, tests’ maintenance and regression testing efforts, will be $70,000.
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Typical Roles in Our CRM Testing Team
ScienceSoft's CRM testing teams usually include the following roles:
QA manager
- Helps design CRM requirements in a testable way.
- Develops the CRM test strategy and plan with regard to the type of your CRM and its requirements.
- Decides on test management software.
- Manages a CRM test team, guides and regularly improves the testing process.
Test engineer
- Analyses the CRM requirements specification to understand the needs of different CRM user groups.
- Designs, executes, and maintains CRM test cases.
- Reports found defects.
UX researcher
Note: CRM system’s usability determines its future user adoption, thus, a UX professional should be temporarily (for 1-4 weeks) involved in CRM testing.
- Carries out interviews with the CRM user groups’ representatives to gather actual user requirements.
- Checks the CRM UI’s prototype against user requirements and established usability standards for web and mobile apps.
- Validates the logic of CRM UI elements’ composition.
In the long-term CRM testing projects where test automation is widely used, we also involve the following specialists:
Test automation architect
For 2-4 weeks, at the beginning of the project
- Defines what test scenarios should be automated.
- Designs the test automation architecture.
- Selects and configures test automation tools and frameworks relevant to different CRM testing types.
Test automation engineer
- Develops, executes, and maintains automated CRM test scripts.
- Reports defects after analyzing the test results.
- Regularly collaborates with the development team to improve test scripts’ granularity and maintainability.
- Creates and maintains an automated regression test suite for continuous CRM testing within a CI/CD pipeline.
Benefits of CRM Testing with ScienceSoft
Optimized testing costs
Sensible resource utilization alongside with effective methodologies and relevant automation share help deliver more with lower expenses.
Zero defects in production
A shift-left approach to testing and automated regression testing allows high coverage without postponing releases.
Fast onboarding
ScienceSoft’s testing experts will dive into your CRM project within 1 week to further deliver full-range testing activities.
Why ScienceSoft
- 34 years in software testing and 22 years in test automation.
- 15 years in CRM testing services.
- ISTQB-certified QA engineers.
- 730+ successful testing projects since 2010.
- Trusted by market leaders such as Deloitte, IBM, Walmart, eBay, Nestle, NASA JPL, Viber, and more.
- Partnerships with Microsoft, AWS, Oracle, Adobe, ServiceNow.
- Standardized defects description, test cases design, and test reporting in accordance with ISO/IEC/IEEE 29119-3:2013.
ScienceSoft as a Reliable Software Testing Provider
Our cooperation with ScienceSoft was a result of a testing vendor competition where the focus was not only on quantity of testing, but very much on quality and the communication with the testers. ScienceSoft came out as the clear winner. We have worked with the team in very close cooperation ever since and value the professional as well as flexible attitude towards testing.
Dominic Bernacchi
COO / Global Managing Director
I hired ScienceSoft to perform stress testing of our software. The team at ScienceSoft built a solid platform for stressing out servers, and it helped us uncover a variety of bugs and revisions that needed to built to our code. The team at ScienceSoft is professional and organized in every way possible. I look forward to working with this team again.
We cooperated with ScienceSoft’s test automation team to validate and re-validate the performance of our partner’s ecommerce store. We recommend ScienceSoft as a quality-centered software testing partner. The collaboration with ScienceSoft helped stabilize the store’s performance and ensure its full compliance with the performance requirements.
ScienceSoft’s Featured Projects in CRM Testing
CRM Testing for an Automotive Enterprise Software Provider
ScienceSoft performed automated testing of a proprietary CRM system for car manufacturers, dealers, and importers, thus helping the Customer successfully launch a highly competitive software product.
Managed Testing of a CRM Solution for US Multi-Industry Corporation
ScienceSoft performed functional, performance, usability testing and role-based access control validation of web and mobile CRM apps based on Microsoft Dynamics 365. As a result, the Customer improved the CRM usability and efficiency for the employees, boosted cross-department communication, and increased customer retention.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Module Testing for a Global Car Dealer Software Provider
ScienceSoft performed in-depth functional testing, component integration, localization and regression testing of the new module of an enterprise software provider’s proprietary CRM. As a result, the Customer seamlessly integrated its new CRM module with the existing accounting system and ensured its smooth functioning in the three target languages.
Consider Professional CRM Testing Services
ScienceSoft offers in-depth CRM assessment services backed by 21 years of experience in QA consulting and 15 years in CRM delivery. Our QA professionals are well versed in CRM specifics, CRM testing best practices, and efficient test automation frameworks and tools.
CRM testing consulting
After a comprehensive analysis of your CRM requirements and specifics, our consultants will provide a detailed CRM testing plan with a tailored KPI set and the best suited toolkit for your project.
CRM testing outsourcing
ScienceSoft’s team is ready to join your project to build a robust QA process from scratch. We can take care of everything: from setting up the testing environment and integrating QA into your CI/CD pipeline to helping fix the found defects.
About ScienceSoft
ScienceSoft is a global IT consulting, software development, and QA company headquartered in McKinney, TX, US. Our CRM testing best practices are refined by 15-year experience in CRM solutions delivery and 21 years in QA outsourcing services, which helps us provide professional CRM testing with optimal budget, time, and test automation involvement. Being ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certified, we rely on a mature quality management system and guarantee that cooperation with us does not pose any risks to our customers’ data security.